It hurt, but Sloane popped her head up. Excitement pushed out all vestiges of grumpiness from her.

“Really?” she asked around a smile that almost hurt. “We haven’t done a movie party in a long time.”

“You haven’t been home for this long in a long time.” He turned to Brady. “Plus, this is probably the fastest way to really get to know Sloane. I mean, you might think you know her now, but just wait. This one here shows her true colors when we go old-school.”

Sloane was already sitting up, sunburn be damned.

“I’m not that bad,” she said to Brady’s raised eyebrow. “I mean, do I yell a bit? Maybe. But it works for most parties.”

“And what exactly is a movie party?”

Suspicion lined his expression. It only stoked her excitement.

“We pick an older movie—it doesn’t matter if we’ve already seen it—get snacks that pay tribute to that movie, and then—”

“Then this one here talks through the entire thing, telling you what she would have done in the characters’ places,” Callum jumped in. “My personal favorite is when we do a scary movie and she points out every time she would have jumped out of a window to her death to avoid a scarier death. Spoiler alert: No matter the movie, the answer is usually a lot.”

“I’m sorry I’d rather die instantly than be dragged into an unknown hellscape by a demonic long-haired girl.” She shook her head. The motion was uncomfortable. “No thank ye.”

“Well, I don’t know if we’ll do super scary tonight because of Justus, but we can probably find a fun one he can watch.” Callum might have given her flak, but Sloane knew he liked when she talked during the movies. Especially since he was usually the one talking right back. “If you two don’t have anything else planned.” He looked at Brady. “And fair warning, if you do join, just know we will not meet the Robertson standards you might be growing accustomed to. You will be responsible for the snacks and your drink of choice. That goes for you, too, Sloane. I already told Justus I’d bankroll him, and he will definitely take advantage of that.”

Sloane had gotten so caught up in her own excitement that she forgot for a moment that Brady wasn’t actually her boyfriend. That the only reason they were together so much lately was because of a deal that benefitted them both. That they were playing pretend, regardless of a few wayward kisses.

He might have been in her childhood bedroom, wearing his neon swimmer shorts and an easy grin, laughing at her and talking with her brother, but their daily dose of being out in public had more than been filled.

But you still want to be around him. Sloane’s face grew hot.

It was almost cruel to be able to blush while sunburned.